This invention relates to a low cost assembly for the removal and recovery of oil, grease and solid wastes found in drains or effluent discharge of restaurants, food processing, or like facilities, industrial plants, maintenance facilities, or other circumstances involving mixtures of oil, grease and solid waste material to be recovered or removed.
Oil, grease and solid waste contaminant removal or recovery systems are well known in the prior art. Over the past thirty years there has been a steady move towards requiring food handling facilities to have systems for servicing kitchen grease and solid waste bearing water flows. Sewer system lines can become clogged from the oil and grease waste materials put into the sewer system from food handling facilities. This has led more and more sewer authorities to implement fats, oils and grease control programs. These programs regulate food handling facilities and the manner in which they process oil, grease and solid waste material. The object of many of these programs is to ensure that food handling facilities remove as much of the oil and grease as possible from the effluent flow, thereby releasing only grey water to the sewer system.
One method recognized in the prior art of accomplishing such removal is the use of a container including one or more rotating disks formed of a plastic or like applicable material to which oil and grease contaminants are attracted. Typically, the rotation of the disk is in an at least partially immersed condition, which allows the oil to cling to one or both sides of the disk so that contaminants are removed from the body of water upon rotation of the disk. Scrapers arc typically used to force the oil contaminants from the opposite sides of the disk and channel such contaminants to a collection or disposal storage unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,881 to Miller et al. is representative of such oil and grease removal systems containing one or more rotating disks. The Miller et al. patent discloses an oil or grease removal assembly which removes such contaminants from the surface of the body of water and includes a rotatable disk made of plastic or other material to which such oil contaminants have an affinity so they adhere to the disk. The disk is disposed in cooperative relation to an elongated trough having scraper blades for engaging the opposite sides of the disk for the removal of the oil contaminants therefrom with the trough disposed and structured to direct such oil contaminants away from the disk and the body of water via the trough to a storage container. This patent, issued to B. Glenn Miller and William C. Batten and assigned to Thermaco, Inc. in Asheboro, N.C., is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
The existing devices may be difficult to service and are very often permanently installed at facility sites. Because many of the parts are coated with oil and grease, servicing can be messy and time consuming. In addition, these systems tend to be expensive and represent a significant capital investment. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an apparatus for separation of oil, grease and solid waste from wastewater which is simple in design, low in cost and capable of being serviced easily in the field because of the availability of low cost replaceable parts which are easily installed and do not require extensive and costly repair.
The present invention fulfills one or more of these needs by providing an oil, grease and solid waste removal assembly which does not require significant capital outlay and is easy to service in the field.
The low cost oil, grease and solid removal assembly includes a container with stainless steel sectional covers for holding effluent water containing oil, grease and solid waste to be removed from said effluent water. The assembly further includes at least one rotatable disk which is supported by one of the sectional container covers and which is partially immersed within the body of effluent water, a drive means mounted on one of the sectional covers in driving engagement to provide rotation of the disk when the drive means is engaged, and an elongated trough mounted on the sectional cover in engaging relation to the opposite sides of the rotatable disk. Two elongated scraper blades mounted on the trough extend inward of the trough into sliding engagement with opposite sides of the disk, having the trough cooperatively disposed and structured to direct oil and grease from opposite sides of the disk along the scraper blades and flowing into the trough and into a storage container. The assembly has a basket support for holding a means to trap solid waste material. The container is constructed of rotomolded plastic and includes a thin stainless steel wrap to provide strength to the container assembly. The stainless steel wrap is constructed by two identical stainless steel pieces fastened at opposing corners by welding, attaching screws, rivets or some other mechanical means. The container may also be constructed of welded stainless steel The container further includes inlet and outlet pipes with the basket support immediately downstream from the inlet pipe. The basket support is designed to hold a strainer which traps solid waste material from the effluent water flow. The basket support further contains cutouts to permit the effluent water with oil and grease to flow downstream of the basket support once the solid waste material has been contained. The basket support section has a sectional cover which is also made of stainless steel, and provides easy access for removal and emptying of the strainer basket when the strainer basket is full of solid waste material.
The low cost oil, grease and solid waste assembly further includes a center sectional cover. This center sectional cover is constructed of stainless steel and has at least one rotatable disk constructed of molded plastic, a gear drive motor, a drive sprocket and a trough constructed of rotomolded plastic. The trough has the elongated wiper blades, which are constructed of a soft plastic or rubber material. When the gear motor drive is engaged, it rotates the drive sprocket in rotation. The disk, which is cooperatively attached to the drive sprocket, rotates in an opposite direction. The wiper blades come into contact with the disk, forcing the oil and grease from the rotating disk into the trough and into the storage container.
Downstream of the center sectional cover the container further includes an outlet baffle constructed of rotomolded plastic. The outlet baffle permits the grey water to flow from the bottom of the container through the outlet pipe into the sewage system after the oil, grease and solid waste materials have been removed. The outlet baffle has a cover, as well, and constructed of stainless steel. These three covers may be hinged together.
The center sectional cover in a completed assembly has a cover for the gear drive motor, the disk and trough. These covers are constructed of plastic.